


Betrayals and Lies

by angsty_nerd



Category: Roswell (TV 1999)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-09
Updated: 2019-10-09
Packaged: 2020-11-28 04:35:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20960561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angsty_nerd/pseuds/angsty_nerd
Summary: Really just a Max headspace fic that I wrote after Wipeout first aired in Season 2, when Max had just found out that Isabel was Vilandra and Michael had almost gotten them killed by trusting Courtney. Really, Max is just depressed and thinks the world is against him..





	1. Chapter 1

Max Evans lay on his bed staring up at his bedroom ceiling, a cold look etched into his stony face.

It was late, dark…the only light in the room was the soft red glow of the numbers on his alarm clock. 3:21…3:22…3:23…the minutes passed slowly. The world was silent…asleep…but Max lay awake, another restless night filled with dark thoughts that plagued his mind.

To sleep would be to find peace, and that was something that Max didn’t think he could understand anymore. He remembered what peace was like…back before Tess came to town, and the whole destiny fiasco began.

Peace was Liz Parker’s embrace.

Peace was trust in his friends.

Peace was gone.

Suddenly it seemed as though his entire world was filled with nothing except lies and betrayals.

Lies from Liz.

Lies from Isabel.

Betrayed by Michael.

Who was left for him to trust? Tess? No. He couldn’t trust her. She was the one who started all of this mess. Maria? No…she was Liz’s friend first and foremost.

He had nobody…no one was left for him to count on.

It was amazing how quickly everything could fall apart. Two years earlier, alone was just a part of who Max was. He had Michael and Isabel…but his world was empty…meaningless. He would spend each day going through the motions of life, but never really living…never getting involved…never caring about anything.

Then the shooting happened, and he had Liz. Suddenly the dark, lonely cavern that had been Max’s world opened up, and the light that was Liz Parker suddenly streamed inside. His world became so beautiful. Max knew then and there that he could never be trapped away in his cave again.

Alex and Maria had found their way into his little world, and together, as a group they had learned to lean on each other…to rely on each other. They formed a family.

It was wonderful.

And now it had all gone to hell.

First Tess came, and she had cracked and eventually shattered everything that had developed between he and Liz. He had pushed Liz, begged her to come back to him, but she never relented. Although he never voiced it aloud, Max blamed Tess. He decided to try being her friend…who knew what could happen? But deep down inside, Max would never stop resenting Tess for the rift she had created between him and the love of his life.

Liz…

His heart ached at the thought of her, and all of the still fresh pain inside of him came rushing back to the surface. A haunted look flew into Max’s eyes, and a single, lonely tear slipped down his cheek, as the image of her and Kyle flashed into his mind’s eye.

First she broke his heart, betrayed him for one night with Kyle, and now she continued to lie to him about it.

Max knew it could never be true. He knew it!

Max knew Liz better than anyone. He knew her soul intimately, because it was the same as his own. She would never, could never be with anyone besides him, just like he could never be with Tess.

There was something going on with her. Someone or something must have scared her into doing this to him. As angry as Max was with her, as hurt and betrayed as he felt, Max was scared for her, for her safety. He desperately wished that she would talk to him. Maybe together they could work through it.

But she lied.

Everything was a lie.

His world ended the day that Liz Parker started lying to him.

And then Isabel started acting strangely too, and things grew even worse, if that was even possible.

The Vilandra Project.

Vilandra…

Isabel was Vilandra.

What did all of this mean? What was the Skins’ interest in Vilandra? What did they know that Max didn’t?

Max knew one thing for certain. Isabel abandoned him in a time of crisis. She betrayed him to the Skins. She could have gotten them all killed.

Max couldn’t remember ever being this angry with her before. Or this hurt…

She had betrayed him.

And then there was Michael. Michael was just stupid. There was no other way to put it.

Michael put his trust in a Skin. He divulged information to a Skin that should have stayed among the group. They couldn’t trust anyone else.

Michael risked all of their lives by trusting Courtney.

Michael…who had been like a brother to Max, who he had always trusted.

Michael betrayed him.

Betrayals…lies…was that all that his world consisted of anymore?

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

"Max…honey?" Diane Evans poked her head into her son’s bedroom. "What are you doing awake? It’s 5 a.m.!"

Max looked up and met his adoptive mother’s weary eyes.

"I couldn’t sleep," he explained softly. "So I thought I’d read ahead in my history book. Might as well take advantage of the time."

Max could see the hesitation in his mother’s eyes, before she stepped all the way into Max’s bedroom, and shut the door behind her.

"Max…can I talk to you for a moment?"

Max closed his textbook with a sigh, and turned to face her.

"Sure mom. Go ahead."

Diane walked over and seated herself on the end of Max’s bed, so that she was directly opposite from where he sat at the desk. She hesitated again before starting to speak.

"Max…honey. I know that you’re a very private person. I understand that and I’ve always tried to respect that, but right now I’m very worried about you."

"I’m fine, mom." Max lied.

"You’re not sleeping at night. At all. I’ve noticed, Max. We’ve all noticed. You never leave your room unless you absolutely have to. You won’t even talk to your sister. There’s obviously something going on with you, Max. I’d have to be blind not to notice. Please…talk to me about what’s bothering you."

"I’m fine mom." Max lied again, a little more lamely this time.

His mother sat there silently for a few minutes, her eyes piercing into his own, penetrating, trying to break him open and see what was inside. Max returned her gaze flatly, unwilling to be the first to break away.

Diane finally sighed, pulling her gaze from Max’s.

"Maybe I’m not the person you want to open up to right now, but there must be someone out there that you trust wholeheartedly. Please…open up to somebody, Max. Anybody. The longer you keep this bottled up inside, the harder it will be to let it all out. Please think about it, Max."

Max nodded. "I will."

As his mom got up and left him along, Max turned back to his history book. He tried to concentrate on it, but all of the words seemed to blur together into nothingness. Not a single word was penetrating.

Max slammed his book shut angrily and stood up, pacing around his room in frustration.

All of the anger and pain had been bottled up inside of him for so long that Max felt like he was about to explode. Max desperately wanted to do something to release it all…he had to hold himself back so that he wouldn’t punch a hole in the wall.

Why did his mother have to try and interfere?

The answer lurked in the back of his mind, even though he tried to ignore it.

Because she loves him.

Max swore mentally at the thought. She loves him. But would she love him if she knew the truth about him?

Max pushed the thought down the moment it emerged. He didn’t even want to go there. She didn’t know about him and she never would know about him. It wasn’t even an issue.

Max thought back to what she had just said. "There must be someone out there that you trust wholeheartedly." But was there really?

Liz had always been that person to him. She knew his soul. Liz had seen his darkest thoughts and feelings, and still loved him for them.

Loved being the operative word there.

She didn’t seem to love him anymore.

"No!" Max mentally argued with himself. That just wasn’t true. She still loved him. He could see it in her eyes while she lied to him. He could feel it with every bone in his body when she was near. The spark was still humming strong between them. It was only a matter of time before it flamed up again.

She could lie to him every day if she wanted, but she couldn’t lie to herself.

Liz was a good, honest person. She hated lying. She hated it! Soon all of this lying would begin to eat at her, until she couldn’t do it anymore. But until then…Max wasn’t sure if he could trust her wholeheartedly anymore.

Whenever Max had something he couldn’t go to Liz about, Isabel was always his back up. But Isabel had betrayed him. He couldn’t trust Isabel anymore.

A slight knocking on his bedroom door interrupted Max’s thoughts.

"What?" He groaned out, stopping his pacing to turn to the door. His gaze hardened as Isabel stepped into his room.

"Max, can I talk to you?" She asked him hesitantly.

"Leave me alone." He replied shortly.

"Please, Max."

"Please what?" He exploded suddenly, turning on Isabel with all of the fury bottled up inside of him. "Do you want to explain to me why you betrayed me? Why you disobeyed a direct order? You nearly got us all killed Isabel. And you were lying to me! You lied! I can’t even stand to look at you right now! I thought I could trust you."

Tears welled up in Isabel’s eyes, and she slumped against the door as if she had been punched, and slid down to sit against the door, staring up at Max as she sobbed openly.

"I know…and I’m so sorry Max. I’m so sorry."

"Sorry isn’t enough this time." Max shot back angrily. "Courtney’s dead! Imagine if that was me, or Michael, or Tess. They could have killed you Isabel! We can’t afford to lose anyone right now."

"I know…and I’m so sorry. I just thought I could help. It was me they wanted…not you."

"The Vilandra Project." Max whispered, the realization hitting him.

"They came here for me, Max. They said…oh God…they said the most awful things, Max. They said that I betrayed you in our past lives. They said that I was in love with their leader, and I gave you all up, got you all killed, to be with him. I wanted to prove them wrong, Max. I wanted to prove that I was loyal to you till the end. I wanted to get them for you. But instead I just made it all worse… I’m so sorry."

Max slumped onto his bed, running his hand through his hair as Isabel’s words penetrated into his mind.

"Can you just…leave me alone?" Max asked quietly. "I need time…to think…"

Isabel nodded, and got up. 

"I’m sorry." She whispered one last time before closing the door behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

Isabel betrayed him. Vilandra betrayed him.

Isabel betrayed him. Vilandra betrayed him.

The two thoughts repeated themselves over and over again through Max's head as Isabel disappeared behind his closing bedroom door.

"Isabel isn't Vilandra anymore." A logical voice in the back of Max's mind reminded him.

"Just because Vilandra betrayed you for the Skins doesn't mean that Isabel will."

But she did.

Isabel got them all captured. If it hadn't been for whatever Tess did, they'd all be dead right now.

"Would that be so bad?" Another voice spoke up, whispering in his mind. "At least in death there would be no more lies."

Max ignored that voice.

A few days earlier, he would have never even questioned Isabel's loyalty…but now…

Max knew that Isabel was sorry…but was sorry enough this time?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Max cut school the next day, hiding out in the desert all day climbing rocks and exploring caves. Desperately, he threw himself into whatever challenge came upon him. Anything…if he could keep his mind off of Liz, Isabel, and Michael.

None of it worked.

When he returned home late that evening, Max went straight to his bedroom, without a word to his family. He slumped onto the floor in the corner of his bedroom, and buried his face in his hands.

Max wasn't sure if he could take the pain anymore. It was all too much.

Max was sick of the lies. He was sick of wondering who he could trust, and who was going to betray him.

He just wanted the pain to stop.

One sole tear slipped out of Max's eye, and traveled the distance down his face, finally hitting the floor silently.

No…he wouldn't cry.

His body didn't listen to his mind. Once one tear was freed, the rest followed without question, and a river of tears flowed down his face in a rush, as sobs racked through his body.

"Stop crying!" He ordered himself, taking deep breaths to control his body again.

A soft knocking on his bedroom door startled Max.

"What." He asked in a weary, pain ridden voice.

The door opened, and someone stepped inside, silently shutting the door behind them.

Max didn't even want to look at anyone. He kept his face buried in his arms, as he began to speak, his voice cracking with emotion.

"Look…I don't want to hear any more lectures on how I need to open up to someone. I don't want to hear any more about how sorry Isabel is." He looked up to meet the eyes of the intruder, and found himself meeting the last eyes he expected to see…the beautiful doe brown of Liz Parker's eyes. "And I don't want to hear any more lies." He finished softly, staring at her in agony. "If you're just going to spout out more lies about how you don't love me and you wouldn't die for me, then just leave. I don't want to hear them."

"No lies." Liz replied softly. "I just want to talk to you… And for the record, I've never denied that I love you. I could never do that."

"So instead you just go off and pretend to sleep with Kyle…that's really showing your love, Liz." He cried out bitterly. "So what do you really want?"

Liz hesitated. "Are you…do you want to listen? I can leave…I'm sorry… Your mom let me in…I suppose she thought maybe I could help."

"Can you?" Max asked softly, suddenly sounding like a weak, scared little boy.

"I hope so." Liz responded.

She slowly walked over to where Max sat in the far corner of the room, and settled herself sitting opposite him, legs crossed beneath her. Max's eyes never left her, as he studied her, half of his mind preparing him for the worst, while the other part of him prayed that he would finally hear the truth that he needed to hear.

Liz started speaking, her voice wavering under her words.

"Everything that just happened, with the Skins, and everyone disappearing…it really shook me up. We had no idea what was happening, Max. Whether our parents and friends were alive. Whether we were going to live…I was so scared. And the only thing keeping me sane was knowing that you were okay. And then…we left to go try to fix everything…and I just…I cracked, Max. I was so scared that I was going to disappear, that I was going to die. I thought I would never see you again…and it killed me to think that I could die and you would never know the truth."

"The truth about what, Liz."

"The truth about why I did everything that I did. But I came to a realization, Max. Screw the consequences. I can't lie to you anymore. There has to be another way."

"Another way to do what?"

"Another way…" Liz paused and took a deep breath, before looking meaningfully into Max's eyes. "Another way to stop the end of the world."

"What?" Max gasped out.

Liz took a deep breath, trying to gather her strength to continue. "I know it sounds crazy…but just, listen to me. I swear to you, I'm through lying to you, Max."

"Okay." Max agreed softly.

"Okay. I had a…visitor…a few weeks ago, Max. It was…well, it was you. An older version of you, who traveled back in time through the granolith to see me. I know it sounds crazy, but he proved it to me, Max. It was you. He needed my help…he needed me to push you away, because our love brought the end of the world."

"What?" Max gasped. "How could…"

Liz cut him off. "Just listen. Without his interference, you would have kept pursuing me to go to Gomez with you. Finally you were going to come to my room that night…and I was finally going to give in. We were going to take our relationship to the next level."

Liz stopped talking and drew her eyes to Max's deep, dark pools of emotion meaningfully, losing herself in them for a moment. She flustered, realizing what she was doing, and continued.

"Anyways, because of the new direction our relationship took, you pushed Tess away. She left Roswell, and we never saw her again. But without Tess you were weaker, and eventually the Skins took over…"

"Bringing about the end of the world." Max finished for her.

"Yes." Liz affirmed for him.

"So you did all of this for me." Max realized suddenly. "Because I asked you to."

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"It was you…I love you." They lost themselves in each other's eyes again, just basking in the presence of each other for a moment, before Liz began to speak again.

"Max…everything I said to you, everything I did…it was all a lie. None of it was true. I'd die for you in an instant. I'd do anything you ask. I could never be with anyone else. You're my heart, my soul…my whole existence. Please don't tell me that things are irreparable between us."

Max rocked himself forward onto his knees, so he could lean over and stroke the soft, warm skin of Liz's cheek. She shivered under his touch after being absent from it for so long.

"No…" Max breathed. "I don't things could ever be irreparable between us."

"You'll give me another chance?" Liz begged him softly, though her mind was still focused on the feeling of Max's hand against her skin.

"I'll give you more than another chance,” Max replied.

Suddenly she was in his arms, and his lips were pressed up against her own desperately, and they kissed with a fiery passion that was burning from months apart. They abandoned themselves completely to one another, unable to get enough of each other, never wanting to stop the feeling of being completely and totally lost in their embrace.

It seemed to Liz as though Max's hands were everywhere at once…on her face, her hair, her arms…he couldn't stop touching her. And she never wanted him to stop.

As his hands cupped her face, a connection opened between them, and their thoughts and feelings poured openly into each other's minds.

Liz could feel Max's pain, first initiated by Liz, and then eventually growing to include Isabel and Michael's betrayal. She almost cried out as his pain swept over her…it was so strong. Liz desperately wanted to take that pain away…ease it all into nothingness. It would take some work, but Liz knew that things could be repaired between her love and his family.

At the same time, Liz also realized that as much as she hurt Max…he had never stopped loving her. She swam in that love, letting it flow through her in waves. Liz couldn't get enough of it.

As Liz was experiencing all of this, Max saw everything that had happened to Liz, as she encountered the future version of himself, and saw him begging her for help. Max felt Liz's agony after every encounter with him, and realized just how much she didn't want to hurt him, but in turn, did it out of necessity. His Liz was so strong.

Together they felt complete devotion to each other, and swore, in that moment, to never lose faith in each other again.

No more lies…no more betrayals.

There was something more powerful than either of these things….love.

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> Posted during OG fandom under the username Cookie2697


End file.
